THE French justice minister Rachida Dati, protégée of President Nicolas Sarkozy and the first French minister to come from a poor ethnic minority, has become engulfed in controversy over an allegation that she falsely claimed she had a prestigious diploma when applying to the national magistrates’ school.

The dynamic, fast-talking Dati, 41, a symbol of Sarkozy’s proclaimed break with the elite-dominated past and a figure of fascination because of her upbringing in an inner-city suburb, is one of the most popular figures in government.

Although unelected, she is in charge of sensitive issues including laws that will bring tougher sentences for young repeat offenders, introducing stiffer minimum penalties.

Dati was born the second of 12 children to a Moroccan bricklayer and an illiterate Algerian housewife and was raised in council housing. She has become a close friend of Sarkozy and his estranged wife Cécilia – Sarkozy’s public displays of affection for Dati have set tongues wagging in Paris.

According to a cover story, “The hidden face of Rachida Dati”, published by L’Express magazine, Dati made a false claim about a diploma in her 1996 application to the national magistrates’ school in Bordeaux, southwest France. The magazine said Dati claimed she had three diplomas – two master’s degrees in law and economic science awarded by Paris universities, and a European MBA from the leading HEC-ISA business school.

According to the latter, she was not awarded the MBA because she was two exams short. “Was it a mistake, a blunder or, as often, a determination to go fast, too fast?” the magazine asked.

Sud Ouest, the regional newspaper, said that Dati included a CV in her dossier, adding that candidates usually sent certified photocopies of their diplomas. Did she supply a copy of a European MBA, the paper asked, or did she simply mention it, given that this diploma was not essential to her application?

Dati has dismissed the allegation as “gossip”. The magistrates’ school has refused to comment.

It is not the first time that Dati’s past has come under unflattering scrutiny. In July she was unsettled by the criminal records of her siblings and by claims that she was impossible to work with as four of her advisers, including her chief of staff, walked out. Two younger brothers have faced drug dealing charges. “All families go through difficult times,” Dati said.

Her career has been extraordinary: she came from nowhere to forge an impressive network of contacts. “My destiny wasn’t mapped out,” she has said.

Described as “an adventurer” by Arnaud Montebourg, a Socialist MP, she buttonholed Albin Chalandon, the former justice minister, at a reception at the Algerian embassy in 1986 and he became the first to take the ambitious would-be politician under his wing.

She wrote to the great and the good including tycoons, ministers, senior civil servants and pop stars. “She once sent me a note talking of ‘unforgettable moments we spent together’, which caused me a few problems with my wife,” one company manager recalled.

“She opened my eyes and made me realise that France is liberty, equality, networks,” another friend said.

After Chalandon, she charmed Jean-Luc Lagardère, a former president of the Matra industrial conglomerate, who hired her as an accounts manager in 1990 before paying for her to study at the Institut Supérieur d’Affaires (ISA), part of the HEC business school. Dati regularly describes herself as “a former ISA pupil”.

In 1995 her guardian angels, including Simone Weil, a former health minister, urged her to enter the magistrates’ school. Dati submitted a list of diplomas as well as glowing tributes from several sponsors.

Shortly after starting at the magistrates’ school, she was reprimanded by the taxman for describing money she gave her family in 1992-94 as a “maintenance allowance” and deducting it from her income. She had to refund the shortfall.

She wrote five times to Sarkozy before landing a job on his staff. When he appointed her justice minister, he described her as embodying “France’s diversity”, alongside two other women of immigrant origin – Fadela Amara, the urban planning secretary, and Rama Yade, the human rights secretary.

Dati remained close to both Sarkozy and his wife, even when Cécilia left to settle in New York with an advertising executive before returning to her husband. This summer Dati had been one of the few guests holidaying with the Sarkozys in Wolfeboro in America.

Introduced to the Christian Dior fashion house by Cécilia, a beaming Dati was photographed alongside John Galliano, its designer, at its 60th anniversary gala last month. The label reportedly allows Dati to wear its creations free and she regularly appears in glossy magazines.

Dati can continue to count on the unflinching support of Sarkozy. At stake is not just a personal friendship but also the “Sarkozy revolution” with its pledge of transforming the way France is governed.

Sarkozy said recently: “She has an obligation to succeed because her presence is a message to all the children of race.”

More information on Rachida Dati

Rachida Dati's webpage on website of Prime Minister of France

French Ministry of Justice website

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